Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Rangers call up electric young righty Owen White

With Jacob deGrom undergoing Tommy John surgery and Jon Gray scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday due to blister issues, the first-place Texas Rangers suddenly find themselves a bit short on starting pitching as they look to continue their postseason push. To help remedy that, they’ve has decided to take a very big swing: 23-year-old right-hander Owen White, the team’s second-ranked prospect and No. 47 overall per MLB Pipeline, will reportedly be called up straight from Double-A.

White has made 11 starts at Double-A Frisco this year, pitching to a 3.54 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 53.1 innings. It’s unclear whether Texas plans to insert him into the rotation — if only on a temporary basis — or deploy him as a multi-inning relief/piggyback option, but one thing we know for sure: When he’s healthy and right, White has as much potential as just about any arm in the Minors.

Of course, “healthy” hasn’t often been used to describe the former second-round pick back in 2018. White needed Tommy John surgery before pitching a single inning for the organization, and between rehab and COVID canceling the 2020 Minor League season, he didn’t make his pro debut until 2021 — over three years after being drafted. He also battled arm fatigue down the stretch of last season, and has still never thrown more than 80 pitches in a season.

The stuff, though, is awfully appealing, with a hard mid-90s fastball, a wipeout slider and a curve and change that both projected to be usable Major League pitches. And the numbers have backed it up: Between 2021 and 2022, White put up a 3.42 ERA with a whopping 160 strikeouts in just 115.1 innings. He’s continued that form this season, especially recently, with just two runs allowed over 13 frames across his last two starts.

If scouts felt sure of his ability to stay healthy and hold up over 150-200 innings, there’s nothing stopping White from being among the best pitching prospects in baseball. He lacks that one true top-of-the-scale offering, but he has strong command of a very deep arsenal, and he’s performed at every level. This will be his toughest test yet, but don’t be surprised if he aces it.